ROCHELLE — Growth and execution are two main goals second-year head coach Colfay Pointer is setting for the Rochelle Lady Hubs as the 2025 track and field season approaches. 

Around 50 student-athletes have signed up to run track and field for the Lady Hubs, who held their first official practice of the season Tuesday afternoon. Rochelle is nearly one month from its first indoor meet, which will be the Sycamore Invitational on Tuesday, March 11. The Lady Hubs will also compete at the Byron Indoor Preview on Saturday, March 15 and the Sterling Warrior Invitational on Saturday, March 22 before transitioning into the outdoor season.

“We have a lot of returners and that’s really exciting,” Pointer said. “A lot of our girls who’re coming back are fired up and ready to get some work in. With so many returners and with all of our coaches returning, we’re going to be closer as a team and that will make things more fun. We’ll get more energy out of the girls and everyone’s feeling good going into the season.”

Senior Dempsey Atkinson is set to return after winning the Interstate 8 title in the high jump last season. The Lady Hubs also welcome back senior thrower Erin Murphy, who took third in shot put at the IHSA Sectional last season. Junior Kyrie Cragin took fourth in the 400-meter dash at the IHSA Sectional last season and will be an athlete to watch in the middle-distance events.

“We’re keeping things simple and we want to see everyone continue to work and execute and let their results do the talking,” Pointer said. “We want the girls to get better every week… We had a really young team last year so the sprints weren’t some of our strongest events, but with the girls lifting throughout the year, we’re hoping that they can start to make some waves.”

Sophomore sprinter Elyse Manning comes back after a breakout freshman campaign in which she took fourth in the triple jump at the IHSA Sectional. Junior Rose Luxton will be a name to watch in the distance events, while sophomore Vivian Worthington is a runner who could be a bigger varsity contributor for the Lady Hubs this season. Junior sprinters Katie Toczylowski and Valerie Saldana are two more returning athletes Pointer said could step up for the team in 2025.

“Vivian was improving last year and she has a chance to start scoring points as a distance runner at the varsity level,” Pointer said. “Dempsey was a conference champion in the high jump and if we can get her through a healthy season, she can do really well in the high jump this year. Erin can do really well in the shot put this year and Elyse was really progressing in the triple jump last year. If she continues with sprinting this year, she can do well in the sprints also.”

Rochelle’s outdoor season will begin with a road meet at Morris on Tuesday, April 8. The Lady Hubs will travel for several larger meets including the Freeport Invitational on April 19, the Rock Falls Invitational on April 25, the Sterling Night Relays on May 2 and the annual Ogle County Invitational at RTHS on Tuesday, May 6. The Interstate 8 Conference meet will be held at Morris on Friday, May 9 and the IHSA 2A Sectional is currently scheduled for Wednesday, May 14.